Just a Statue
by Ovo
Summary: In the middle of the night, Neil tries to get his thoughts around the problems at hand. His thoughts are further distracted when Jane comes calling.


_**Just a Statue**_

Maybe it was just the ever-present hum of the energy field that wouldn't let him sleep. But he guessed it was probably because of the worry that was eating away at his mind. Aki Ross was dying. The captain wasn't going to leave her side no matter what, not that he could as drugged as he was. The rest of the Deep Eyes had been more or less kicked out of the room by the medical staff.

Neil shot a glance towards the clock set into the wall of his sleeping quarters. It read 3 am. He happily realized that he had slept for an hour. He dropped his head back down onto the pillow in an effort to get a little more sleep. How much he slept, he didn't know. He only knew that he was startled awake by a soft click.

He opened his eyes as he recognized the sound, more so because the muzzle of the pistol was pressed into his neck than because he was awake enough to recognize the sound. The room was light, as someone had turned the lights on, and he could now see the person standing an arm's length away.

"What the hell is this all about?" Neil demanded, too startled to be very scared at the time, "Jane, why do you have a gun in my face?"

"Get up," Jane growled. Neil complied, but complained, "Just what's going on, huh? I thought we were friends. You didn't even try to explain. Why didn't you try to explain, Jane, huh? Why?"

"Shut up, and I will," Jane replied, keeping the gun trained on Neil the whole time.

"Well?" the tech asked impatiently after his questions weren't answered after half a minute.

Silence filled the room a second time, and then Jane tried out her explanation.

"Neil, our squad is going to be under arrest in three hours," she said, "General Hein offered me a choice. Either be tried with the rest of you on suspicion of treason, or to kill one of you in proof of loyalty."

"Lucky you," Neil said, crestfallen, "What makes you so special?"

"Hein knew my father. They were friends of sorts," Jane replied, "But-"

"That figures," Neil said, "So you come to kill me. Oh well, I should have expected it seeing how you don't like me anyway. Everything I do is either nothing or wrong to you."

"Shut up Neil, I'm not finished," the woman snapped, "Dishonor in my family is a very serious thing. If I were arrested, I wouldn't have a family. I would be outcast, even if I was found innocent, understand?"

Neil nodded.

"I thought of suicide, but that's about the same level of dishonor. Running from my problems," Jane continued, "So every way is closed off. And-"

"And this is the only way, yadda yadda," Neil said, gesturing with his hands wildly, "Look, if you're gonna do it just get it over with please?"

"I'm not going to kill you," Jane said, grabbing one of his fast-moving hands. She placed the gun in it and wrapped his fingers around the weapon, "You're going to kill me."

"What?" he asked incredulously, "This is some kind of joke right? I mean, you have blanks in here or something and it's a loyalty test or something right?"

Jane shook her head, "I wish it was," she said simply, "but this is the only way. Security will be here in," she paused to look at the clock on the wall, "two hours."

"No, you're joking," Neil said matter-of-factly, "This is a sick joke Jane!"

"If this is a joke," Jane said, "Then you should have no fear of pulling the trigger of that gun."

Neil looked the gun over. He analyzed the clip, which seemed to be full of real bullets. In any case, his room was soundproofed for privacy. So, replacing the clip, he fired a round into the wall. Sure enough, the bullet hit the wall and made a dent. Staring dumbly at the weapon, Neil tried to think. His mind had gone blank.

"Satisfied?" Jane asked.

"I'm not going to shoot you!" Neil exclaimed, horrified.

"Why not?" Jane demanded. Why couldn't he see what needed to be done?

"Well, I'll go to jail!" the tech said.

"We're all going to jail anyway Neil," Jane said, "and you won't get charged for it if they think it was self defense."

"But I can't," Neil said, almost on the brink of tears "I just can't"

"You'd better," Jane growled.

An idea occurred to Neil as he aimed the gun, almost against his will, "Couldn't we just get the others and run away somewhere?"

"No time," Jane said, "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and still disgraced." Was that fear in her voice?

"I... Ok Jane, if you say so," Neil hoped she didn't see where he was aiming. It was the only chance he saw of keeping her alive, however much she'd hate him later. This was a painful shot, but it took forever he was told. And forever would be enough time to call a medic.

"Don't take me for a fool Neil," Jane sighed, eyeing the angle of the shot, "That shot isn't fatal when you can get to help fast."

"What?" the tech asked, "What shot?"

She took his hand with her own and changed his aim. From a stomach-shot to a head-shot. Damn, was he shaking or was that her?

"Jane I can't do this," Neil said pleadingly. He had a very hard time trying not to cry, as Jane already was. Whether she was aware of it or not was another matter.

"Wait a minute, I'm the one with the gun," Neil said, "Why should I be listening to you?"

"Because you're my last chance?" Jane replied, annoyed. For some reason she could imagine Neil jumping at the prospect of being the one to kill her, "And if not I can still kill you if you refuse."

"Fair enough," the tech said sadly. A quick look at the clock revealed that half an hour had gone by. It was now 4:30.

"When did you say security gets here?" Neil asked.

"Six am, Neil, now will you please stop stalling?" Jane sniffled, and discovered the tears on her cheeks. She laughed while she wiped them off, "I never thought something like this would happen," she said sadly, more to herself than to Neil.

A second idea occurred to Neil, "Look. Give me an hour. We'll talk and if you still want to die, I promise I'll shoot you," he said.

Jane rolled her eyes, "Alright, but no more stalling after that."

"No more stalling, I promise. Now take a seat," Neil said, gesturing to the bed with the gun. After they had both sat down, he stared at the weapon as he spoke. The conversation ranged over quite a few topics, from Dr Sid's Gaia theory to more everyday things, such as stories from the past few years on the Deep Eyes Squad. Neil did most of the talking; Jane simply answered yes or no questions occasionally and kept glancing at the clock.

As the hour nearly past, Neil almost panicked, as his words seemingly had no effect. He dropped his hands in his lap and noticed the gun he was still holding. Swallowing, he studied the weapon closely, noting every feature.

"Are you done yet?" Jane asked wearily.

"Um..." Neil said, looking at the clock, "I wonder how the captain is doing."

"You're done aren't you?" Jane asked again.

"Yeah, I can't think of much else," Neil admitted.

"You haven't changed my mind," Jane said simply.

"I can see that," Neil said sadly. He looked at the clock again, wishing it would stop completely. It read 5:27.

He closed his eyes as Jane aimed the gun for him again. Stupid clock. How could it do this to him like this?

"Please," Jane's voice cracked. Neil had only seen her cry twice, one of those times being this night. She looked like she was about to cry a third time, and he couldn't quite bring himself to deny her request.

He was shaking, and he surprised himself as he felt his index finger began to move on what seemed to be its own accord.

It was then that he had never been happier to see the locked door be opened by a security override code. Four soldiers entered the room, and more were visible outside. Neil grinned as the soldier in the lead told him to drop the gun, which he happily did. A look at Jane's stunned face warranted an explanation on the tech's part.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, the clock in here is thirty minutes behind," Neil said, "It helps me wake up in the morning. I feel better thinking I wake up earlier."

Shock turned to anger, which turned to something else. Neil saw Ryan just outside, but lost sight of him as the soldiers in the hall shuffled around. But then the highest-ranking soldier was talking anyway.

"... Charge of treason, your cooperation is appreciated. Please come willingly, or we may be forced to use whatever force is necessary..."

Neil shot a quick glance at the woman sitting next to him, suddenly worried by the words about force and necessary. He didn't need to be very skilled to see the suicidal, almost hopeful look on Jane's face.

'Oh no,' was the only sentence that was registering in the tech's mind. Even when one of the soldiers prodded him with his gun he sat there in a stunned disbelief.

"I said let's go!" the officer said.

"Wait, would you just give us five minutes alone please?" Neil asked in one final desperate attempt.

"What for?" the officer demanded.

"Um... So we can come quietly?" Neil replied.

"Fine," the officer said grumpily, "As long as we get out of here sometime this year."

"Look, Jane," Neil said when the soldiers had left the room, "Please listen to me. If your family doesn't love you for who you are, traitor or not, you shouldn't love them either."

"What?" Jane asked, confused.

"Well, if they are going to make you do stupid things like this because of this whole army attitude, you don't need them at all," Neil said, "Please don't make trouble now, Deep Eyes needs you more than they do. We're your family now, Jane, and none of us would ever tell you to kill a friend all in the matter of honor or to kill yourself out of any stupid reasons or anything like that."

"Please just accept this; we'll be your family, and we'll care for you forever," Neil said, "And if you don't want that, I'll always be there for you no matter what, and you can count on me for anything you ever need."

Jane's expression was one of confusion. Neil tried his last trick and threw his arms around the woman's shoulders.

"I promise to always be by you for whatever you need me for, just please don't die," he whispered, "I don't want you to die. Please tell me you aren't going to make them kill you..."

Neil felt the slightest pressure around his own shoulders as Jane hugged him back hesitantly. It was the only confirmation he needed, and then Neil wasn't scared anymore. They stayed like that until the soldiers returned and pulled them apart.

"Come on already," the officer barked.

"But of course sir," the tech gave a mock salute, "Hey sarge, how are ya?"

Ryan looked at Neil for a while as they were marched down the corridors before asking, "So what was all that about?"

"Oh, nothing, just girl talk you know?" Neil said, "I'll tell you about it someday."

He turned to look at Jane, but she was just an unresponsive soldier again. Just like before. Like a marble statue.

_**The End**_

* * *

**Working Title**: _Just a Statue_

**Inspiration**: Second viewing of the Final Fantasy film, after I'd gotten the DVD.

**Noteworthy**: Temporally, I suspect that Aki took less time to heal or at least that the Deep Eyes wouldn't have gone anywhere. Anyway, this is from before I had a confident grasp of the characterization; in particular, I thought Jane was a bit _too _desperate.

**Disambiguation**: Wasn't intended to be romance, per se. A new start, maybe, and something that might've led anywhere, but...

_Derivative work of material © Square Pictures, Squaresoft. Reformatted to abide by 'site standards. None of the original text has been modified, 'cept in case of typo.  
_


End file.
